Flying-machine.



0. T. ROSS.

' FLYING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED FEB.13, 1909. I 1,082,769. Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

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FLYING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED FEB.13, 1909.

Patented Dec. 30,1913.

4 HEETS-SEEET Z.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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0. T. ROSS.

FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.13,1909.

O. T. ROSS.

FLYING MACHINE.-

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 13, 1909.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

than-air as well as lighter-than-air types,

to provide for the guiding ofthe machine The invent on as for a further object to ping and starting the machine, these devices -known types of flying machines.

- rotating such sustaining member. This containing means of the airship, as I cons ider that my invention is best embodied 1n a.

nevertheless adaptable for use upon ma-.

iINITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. OSCAR T. ROSS, OF GOLDFIEI ID, NEVADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WARD HILDRETH,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FLYING-MACHIN E.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR T. Ross, a citizen of the United States, residing at Goldfield, in the county of Esmeralda and State of Nevada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flying Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a flying machine, and has for a principal object to provide a flying machine of new and'improved construction, which hall be much less liable to be affected by wind than any of those which are now being experimented with; whlch shall be more easily governed while underway and also in starting and stopping; and which in other respects will be safer and less liable to derangement and accident than the One principal object of my invention is to apply "the gyroscope principle to the construction of fiying machines. In carrying out this idea I provide a sustaining member having an extended surface or surfaces, which member is rotatable and adapted to stand, when the machine is under power, at somewhat of an inclination from the horizontal, and driving means on the car for structionmight be applied to a variety of kinds of flying machines, of the heavier andso as to constitute the sole sustaining means or an auxiliary sustaining or steadying means. This sustaining member might be constructed in a variety of ways. I have shown a machine having a single, circular, rotatable plane which constitutes the sole susmonoplane machine of that sort.-

The invention has for a further ob ect in rising and falling by'shifting the relative positions of the car and the sustaining member, my invention contemplating hanging the car to the sustaining member by a pivoted connection.

provide cushioning or elastic means on the bottom of the car which will assist in stopeing particularly suitable for use upon a flying machine such as I show, but being chines of entirely different types.

is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine in the air. Fig. 2 is asectional plan view taken below the plane. Fig. 3 is a partial side elevation illustrating the construction of the car. Fig. 4: is a sectional plan view of this part of the machine. Fig. 5 is an end elevation. Fig. 6 is a plan viewof the driving connection for the plane, parts being omitted for the sake of clearness of illustration. Fig-7 is a vertical sectional View of these parts. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the driving pulley. Fig. 9 isacross-section on line '99 of Fig. 8, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 10 is a sectional plan taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 7. Fig..11 is a diagrammatic view of the machine illustrating the adjustment between the plane and the car; and Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the machine.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 15 represents the flooring of the car, 16 the forward frame-work carrying the shafts 17 of the propellers 18. The propellers are preferably arranged so that they drive the air up against the rotating plane (to be described hereafter), as shown in Fig. 5.

The'moto-r, whichmay be of any desired type, is represented by 19. On its main shaft 20 it carries a pinion 21, which meshes with a pinion 22 on a shaft 23. On shafts 20- and 23 are driving pulleys 24 connected by belts with pulleys 26 on the propeller shafts 17. Any other means might be devised for driving the propellers in opposite directions to each other.

'27 is the rear frame which sustains the.

rudder 28 of any useful type. I have shown the rudder attached to a shaft 29, carrying a pulley 30, over which passes the belt 31, the ends of which are attached to the steering lever 32, provided with the hand wheel 33. The particular construction of these parts is not essential to my invention.' 7

The rotating plane may be constructed in a variety of ways and of-a variety of "materials. I have shown it as consisting of cloth 34, braced and sustained by the radial arms 35, attached to the sleeve 36. The arms are preferably braced by diagonal I braces 37, which are attached to a hub' 38.

The plane 34 turns on a shaft 39, preferably on ball-bearings. On the upper end of shaft 39 is a cone 40, balls 41 being interposed between the cone and hub 38. Integral with the hub 38 is a sleeve42, on the other end of which is a hub 43 which surrounds a cone 44 fixed on shaft 39. Balls 45 are interposed between the hub and the cone. Any other sort of anti-friction bearings might be employed. It is important that the plane turn as easily as possible. In order that the plane may be collapsed for the purpose of easy transportatiomalthbugh this is not essential, I have provided ened at the ends of the radial arms, where the greatest strain is likely to come, the sleeve 42 is preferably provided withfeathersy50, and the sleeve 36 with correspond in'g slots.

' gear .52, a pulley 53-on a shaft 54, the frame-work of the car.

The shaft 20 of motor 19 carries the pulley 51, and this pulley drives, by means of belt supported on On thisshaft is a beveled gear 55, meshing with a beveled 56, which latter meshes with a beveled gear 57 on hub 43. By this meansthe plane 34 may be rotated. Any other form of driving device might be employed.

The car is hung from the plane, and preferably the connection between the two is such that their angular position with regard to each other may be shifted. gBy this means the rising and descending 0 the machine maybe controlled.- I have shown the shaft 39 "provided with trunnions 58, 59, the latter of which is extended so as to carry the beveled gear. 56.- These trunnions are carried in'bearings on the box 60, supported upon-the standards 61 from the flooring of e the car. Shaft 39 has the extension 62 provided with a fork 63 extending over the .pin 64 of the follower 65 carried on the screw 66, which latter is provided with the handwheel 67. By this means the angular relationship between the car and the plane may be varied, resulting in the shifting of the ,center of gravity of the car with respect to the axis of rotationof the plane, whereb the inclination of the plane from the honzontal may be varied.

It will be. understood that the gyroscopic action of the rotating plane is to resist any change of inclination of the plane. Consequently when the shifting mechanism is moved, the tendency is to tilt the car to a position out of the horizontal. This shifts the center of gravity of the carand so, of course, changes the center of gravity of the entire machine, with the result that, as the machine adjusts itself to this changed con-- .dition, the relation of the plane to the horizontal is correspondingly changed.

. I preferably construct the driving connection between the motor and the plane so that the plane may continue to rotate after the motor has been stopped and with least possible friction. To this end,pulley 53 is constructed as. shown in Figs. 8 and 9. Shaft 54 has keyed to it a collar'68 provided with notches 69, 69 which'are engaged by dogs 70, 70, held in place by sprin s 71, 71, which dogs are pivoted to pulley5 which is loose on shaft 54. Any other form of clutch ac-' complishing the same resultsmight be substituted for the one described.

I, preferably, provide the machine with yielding supporting or guiding devices of sufiicient elasticity to counterbalance in part the weight of the machine and which facilitate and guide the machine in starting and stopping. At the forward end of the car, is a shaft 2 to the opposite ends of which are secured the coil springs 73, and attached to these springs are legs '74, preferably, somewhat curved at theends as shown at 75. At the rear end of the car is a shaft 76 which carries the coil spring 77 to which is attached the single leg or tail-piece 78, preferably, somewhat longer than legs 74. Straps 79 limit the forward movement of legs 74, and a similar strap 80 limits the movement of the tail-piece 78. The ,positionbf these legswhen the machine is in the air andabout to alight is shown in Fig. 1. When the machine is at rest, the legs take the positionshown-in Fig. 3. In order to be able to take oil the tension from the springs when the machine is at rest, shafts 72 and 76 are arranged to rock in suitable bearings and are provided, respectively, with rock -arms 81 and 82, these arms being connected by means, respectively, of rods 83 and 84, with an operating lever 85 which may be adjusted in the familiar manner upon the toothed sector 86.

In order that thermotor may be disconnected from the propellers while .still remaining connected up with the plane, so as to" keep the plane in rotation, I provide a clutch 87 on the part of the motor shaft carryin the driving pulley for'the'pro peller sha ts. This clutch may be, of any ordinary construction and is shown. as operated by the handle 88. e The operation of the machine is as'fol lows: In making a start'the motor is set in operation so as to drive the propellers and constructions and arrangements shown and described as modifications might be devised which would come within the spirit of my invention: as defined bythe claims.

rotate the plane 34. The plane is set at an inclination to the horizontal, the pressure of air as the .car moves forward, causes the machine to rise from the ground as in the case of any aeroplane. The function of the legs 74 and tail-piece 78 is to assist the machine in rising, with a maximum of support at the start, the support andt-he friction between legs and'ground lessening as the car rises. They also guide it and lessen the wabbling likely to occur before the machine gets under way. After the front legs have left the ground, the longer tail-piece'is still in contact with the ground and helps to support and steady the machine. The rotation of the plane keeps the machine substantially level, even in a strong wind, thus overcom-' ing one" of the chief difliculties which have stood in the way of thesuccessful operation of aeroplanes. When the machine is flying on a level, the plane must be somewhat inclin'ed from the horizontal. When it is rising the inclination must be greater. When descending, the plane may stand in a substantially horizontal position, the car gradually descending as the speed of the propellers is lessened. These changes may be effected by means of the hand-wheel 67 on screw 66. The effect of manipulating screw 66 is to shift the center of gravity of the car in relation to the rotation of the plane, and such a shifting brings about a change in the an-- gular position of the plane with respect to the horizontal. The machine may be steered from right to left with the ordinary rudder. The propellers which are preferably two in number are arranged under the plane, and

' preferablyrotate so as to drive the air toward the plane rather than away from it. When the motor stops, either from accident or intentionally, the plane continues to rotate by its own momentum, thus keeping the machine steady, on the gyroscopic principle, as it slowly descends to the ground. In-

deed, the operator might, in case of accident to the motor, keep the plane in rotation by a crank 56 on gear 56. hen the machine comes near the ground, the tail-piece 78 is first to touch the ground. This guides the machine to a certain extent and its increasing friction with the ground acts as a drag or brake, and eases the descent. The front legs 74 next come into play, adding to the cushioning, braking and guiding effect of the tail-piece. The increasing tension of the springs as the legs and tail-pieceare folded backward by the descent of the car gradually increases this braking and cushioning effect. As soon as the car comes to rest, the tension on the springs 7 3 and 77 is removed solidly on its flat-base, so as not to be readily upset by the wind. As a further protection,

the plane can then be folded if desired.

* eration at will.

do not limit myself to the exact devices,

, longer than the forward legs, and means for limiting the forward movement of the legs.

2. The combination with a flying machine, of a rock-shaft at the forward end of the machine, a pair of elastically mounted legs on" said rock-shaft, a rock-shaft at the rear end of the machine, an elastically mounted leg on said. rock-shaft which is longer than the forward legs, means for limiting the forward movement of the legs, and operating means for rocking said shafts so as to put said elastically mounted legs under tension or to relieve the tension thereof.

3. The combination with a flying machine, of a plurality of braking and cushioning devices adapted to successively engage the ground with gradually increasing friction so as to retard the forward movement of the car as the machine comes to rest.

4. The combination with a flying ma chine, of a plurality of retarding and cushioning devices arranged to successively en-' gage the ground with increasing tension as the machine comes to rest, and means for throwing said devices into and out of op 5. The combination with a flying machine, of a plurality of means for affording a yielding support to the machine when at rest on the ground, but with decreasing efficiency as the machine rises, said devices being arranged to successively leave the ground as the machine rises.

6. The combination with a flying machine, of a spring actuated leg adapted to engage the ground under more or less compression as the machine is nearer to or farther froin the ground, and means for throwing the spring actuating said leg into or out of operation at will.

7 The combination with a flying machine, of a plurality of spring actuated legs adapted to engage the ground under more or lesscompression as the machine is nearer to .or farther from the ground, and means for throwing the spring actuating said legs into or out of operation at will.

8. The combination with a flying machine, of a plurality of spring actuated legs adapted to engage the ground under more or less compression as the machine is nearer to or farther from the ground, and means for throwing the spring actuatlng said legs into or out of operation at will, said legs being arranged to successively en age or leave the ground as the machine escends or rises.

9. In a flying machine the combination with a plane, of a car carried below the plane, a rigid leg at the forward end of the 10 car, a spring on which said leg is sustained and which is adapted to be put under tension when the leg comes into contact with the ground, a longer rigiddeg at the rear i end of the car, and a spring sustaining said OSCAR T. ROSS.

I Witnesses:

P. H. TRUMAN, H. L. PEOK. 

